


Hope

by itsmewhitney



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst?, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 19:10:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19818706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmewhitney/pseuds/itsmewhitney
Summary: Levi leaves. Mikasa worries.





	Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Short fic I wrote while I was supposed to be studying for an exam. Let's hope I didn't mess up both.

The news does not take long to reach her.

_They’re here._

Her anxiety reaches surreal levels and she wonders how in the world does she still have the capacity to worry further. It’s been two weeks since the troops left, leaving behind the weary hearts of lovers, children, parents, friends. She had been among the anxious faces seeing them off, desperately trying to soak in all of him lest it be the last time. His words of comfort were lost to her, drowned out by her fear of the what ifs.

*

_“I’m Humanity’s Strongest, it’s impossible to die out there.” Levi smirks, trying his best to ease Mikasa’s tension._

_“I know but…please take me with you.” She sounds almost child-like in her desperation and Levi sighs._

_“You’re injured,” he says simply, gently brushing his hand against the bandage tied around her forehead. “You’re supposed to be on bed rest. Tsk. You’re so stubborn.”_

_“Exactly, I’m fine!” she says, in a last attempt to turn the tide in her favor “Really, Lev-”_

_“Mikasa,” he interrupts, his voice now low and stern. He cups her face in his hand at marvels at how cute she is even in her frenzied worry. He is tempted to kiss away the telltale lines of worry on her forehead, but he knows it will be harder to leave the longer he stalls._

_Finally, he sighs and takes a deep breath “I cannot live with myself if something were to happen to you because I was selfish enough to bring you along. Please Mikasa, I won’t be long.”_

_The slight quiver of his voice does not go unnoticed and Mikasa finally acquiesces. She knows it is as hard for him as it is for her. Still, she wants to ask him to stay, fully aware that would be selfish too. He’s a key player in this ordeal. He’s Humanity’s Strongest after all._

*

Now, as she makes her way to the gates, waves of panic flow through her and she is again bombarded by the what ifs. She shakes her head vehemently as if to rid her mind of her overactive thoughts but failing all the while. She is out of breath by the time she reaches the crowd, hers among the hopeful eyes scanning the troops before them for some semblance of a familiar face. It’s hard the way everyone appears downcast, disheveled, bereaved.

Her eyes move frantically from each battered soldier to the next, her pulse quickening with each face she doesn’t recognize as his own. When she is almost at her wit’s end, overcome with morbid mental images, a hand reaches her from behind and she spins around with a start.

Their eyes meet and she suddenly feels weak as the days of pent-up worry leaves her body. It doesn’t help that she was unable to sleep well since he left. She recalls fitful sleeping and casting longing glances at the vacant spot on her bed where he would usually stay. She remembers their whispered promises and the way he looked, almost happy and at ease the night he left.

Now, the man before her couldn’t be any different. She sees it in his eyes; the toll of a never-ending war, of lost lives, of never being able to save them all. Still, he manages to smile when he sees her, giving rise to the erratic beating of her heart. He pulls her into him and hugs her with so much force that it almost hurts, but she doesn’t care; she understands.

“Mikasa,” he breathes. “I missed you.”

In that moment, nothing was right and everything was.


End file.
